Extreme environments offer significant challenges to all life forms existing there. The life forms that do exist in such extreme environments often have unique cellular, physiological and biochemical adaptations that allow them to thrive under conditions in which other life forms would perish. Extremophile microorganisms have been documented to inhabit extreme environments where the physical and chemical parameters have been perceived by humans inhospitable for the existence of known form of life (Pikuta and Hoover, 2000). The dry and cold environment of the Antarctic continent, including lakes and the rest of the pedosphere, offers one example of such an extreme environment.
The study of such extremophile microorganisms has yielded many useful insights to cellular function and has yielded a number of new drugs for study in human disease. Due to the cellular, physiological and biochemical adaptations of these organisms, they offer a unique platform to isolate and identify novel chemical structures for study in the treatment and prevention of human disease.
The present disclosure describes the isolation of “cold loving” psychrotolerant extremophilic microorganisms from the Lakes of Schirmacher Oasis located in the East Antarctic Dronning Maud Land. The isolated organisms were characterized and certain pigments produced by these microorganisms were isolated. The present disclosure teaches that the isolated pigments exhibit anticancer and antimicrobial properties and can be used as new therapies for the treatment and prevention of cancer and microbially mediated diseases.